Mets Pitcher Steven Matz to Have Surgery on Elbow Nerve

Steven Matz was reportedly pitching through pain all this season.

One of the more oft-injured members of the Mets’ oft-injured starting rotation is injured again. 

Steven Matz won’t start as scheduled Tuesday after a visit to the doctor on Monday, manager Terry Collins announced, and a trip to the disabled list is likely. Tommy Milone, recently recalled from Triple A, is expected to get the call in his place.

Collins said Matz doesn’t have an injury but the problem is “something to do with his arm” that he could have pitched through. “We felt that this might be the best time to address it,” Collins told reporters. 

The Mets announced later Monday night that Matz was diagnosed with irritation in the ulnar nerve and will have surgery in the next few days, confirming earlier reports by Newsday’s Marc Carig and Mike Puma of the New York Post. The surgery will end his season. 

Jacob deGrom had a similar issue last season and has pitched well since having it corrected. 

Matz missed the first two months of this season with an elbow injury but the issue was never fully resolved, Carig reports, and Matz skipped “​bullpen sessions to keep pitching through the pain.”

Matz’s season also ended prematurely last year due to a shoulder impingement followed by surgery to remove a bone spur from his elbow.  

Matz has been one of the worst pitchers in baseball this year, running up a 6.08 ERA in 13 starts. His ERA would be the worst in the major leagues if he had enough innings to qualify for the leaderboard. The former top-15 prospect finished sixth in Rookie of the Year voting last year.